Impersonal Passives with Prepositions
If a verb requires a preposition to connect to its object—like از for "to use" or درباره for "to talk about"—that object cannot become the grammatical subject of a passive sentence.
Instead, Farsi uses an impersonal passive. To form this, keep the preposition and its object, and conjugate the passive verb strictly in the third-person singular (an invisible "it").
| Before makeup, moisturizer is used. | قبل از آرایش، از مرطوبکننده استفاده میشود.qabl az ârâyesh, az martub-konande estefâde mishavad. |
| In the clinic, sunscreen cream is talked about. | در مطب درباره کرم ضد آفتاب صحبت میشود.dar matab darbâre-ye kerem-e zedd-e âftâb sohbat mishavad |
Verbs Requiring "به"
Many common compound verbs require the preposition به, such as رسیدگی کردن (to attend to) and توجه کردن (to pay attention to). Whether the object is singular or plural, the passive verb always stays in the third-person singular.
| With this cream, wrinkles are taken care of. | با این کرم، به چین و چروک رسیدگی میشود.bâ in kerem, be chin o cherok residegi mishavad. |
| For the skin's freshness, attention is paid to the moisturizer. | برای شادابی پوست، به مرطوبکننده توجه میشود.barâye shâdâbi-ye pust, be martub-konande tavajjoh mishavad. |
| In this routine, this sunscreen is trusted. | در این روتین، به این ضد آفتاب اعتماد میشود.dar in rutin, be in zedd âftâb e'temâd mishavad. |
Working Across Tenses
This impersonal structure works in any verb tense. The auxiliary verb (شدن) changes to reflect the past, perfect, or subjunctive tense, but remains in the third-person singular form.
| Prior to this, wrinkles had not been paid attention to in this routine. | پیش از این، در این روتین به چین و چروک توجه نشده بود.pish az in, dar in rutin be chin o choruk tavajjoh nashode bud. |
| I wish this routine had been used for facial acne so that the freshness would return. | کاش برای جوش صورت از این روتین استفاده شده بود تا شادابی برگردد.kâsh barâye jush-e surat az in rutin estefâde shode bud tâ shâdâbi bargardad. |